


Interested

by flailinginlove



Category: Naruto
Genre: Kakashi Has Issues, M/M, gigantic crushes, vicious balls of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 00:27:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14484672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flailinginlove/pseuds/flailinginlove
Summary: Iruka sees Kakashi without his mask and suddenly seems a lot more interested in him than he's ever been before.





	Interested

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to try my hand at the super socially awkward Kakashi with a massive crush on Iruka trope.

It should have been a peaceful day, just the slightest hint of spring hanging in the air. Instead, one of the most terrifying things Kakashi had ever seen was heading straight towards him. A screeching nightmare, an unholy terror. 

Kakashi eyed his surroundings, trying desperately to find a direction to dodge, a way to escape. There was none. 

The streets of Konoha should have been safe. Today, they were not.

He gritted his teeth, preparing himself for what was about to come.

A knee-height torrent of tears and snot stopped right in front of him, sobbing up at him.

Kakashi tensed, watching the child as closely as he would a missing-nin. What was he supposed to do with this thing? He tried an awkward head pat. That was supposed to be soothing, he thought, but it didn't help. The kid continued to emit an eardrum-piercing shriek that had all of Kakashi's instincts demanding he run for cover. No good could come of this. He didn't have the proper training or skills needed to deal with this situation.

" _HIKKA_ ," the kid wailed, all runny nose and missing front teeth.

Kakashi cast desperate glances around him. Two tokujo walking just a little way down the street eyed the kid warily for a full half-second before fleeing. 

_Cowards_ , Kakashi thought, though it was mostly out of jealousy that they'd managed to get away so easily.

It wasn't much of a secret that most jounin had little to no ability when it came to dealing with small children. Like battles, children were messy, noisy, and could quickly cause great amounts of damage. Between the two, Kakashi would choose battle any day of the week.

The kid was still crying, looking up at Kakashi with big, watery eyes. Kakashi shifted in his sandals. Maybe a quick clone substitution? The kid wouldn't know the difference, but he had to grudgingly admit it wouldn't work. His clone would bail as soon as it could. He wouldn't even blame it.

He glanced around again. The street was empty, backup nowhere in sight. 

Fine. He'd deal with this. The things he did for this village.

"Report," he commanded.

The kid snuffled and stared at him blankly. Kakashi fought back a sigh and tried again. "What's wrong?"

That worked better. The kid sobbed out that something called Hikka was up in a tree and wouldn't come down. Simple enough. Kakashi would just grab this Hikka, whatever it was, toss it down to the kid, and be done with it. A few minutes out of his day, and hopefully he would never see this faucet of snot and sobs disguised as a mini-human again.

The kid led him to a tree, suspiciously damp hand clinging to his sleeve, and Kakashi spotted the ball of orange tabby fluffy that had to be Hikka. The cat looked perfectly fine to him, not at all in distress as it lounged on a branch. The tree it'd chosen was one of Kakashi's favorites. There was a branch about two-thirds of the way up that was an excellent reading spot, situated at just the right angle for peering at the Academy over the top of his book.

He stared up at the cat then glanced back at the kid. Maybe he should explain the protocol and paperwork necessary for requesting a cat retrieval mission. D-rank missions weren't that much money and there were always genin teams in need of the work.

This time he did sigh, resigned to just doing it himself. No point in costing the kid a few months of allowance. 

With another pat for the kid's head he hoped was reassuring, Kakashi jumped up into the tree.

~*~*~

Ten minutes later, Kakashi was seriously questioning all the life choices that had brought him here.

Hikka wasn't some helpless kitten stuck in a tree, it was a freaking _nin-cat_. And it most definitely did not need or even want to be rescued, from the tree or anywhere else.

When Kakashi had first approached it, the cat had eyed him, stretched lazily, then hopped up to the highest branches, the ones that likely wouldn't support Kakashi's weight if he followed. It had then stretched again, claws digging deep into bark, before settling down onto its new branch with a self-satisfied air that would have made even Ebisu seem humble by comparison. 

Things had gone downhill swiftly from there.

Every time Kakashi got close, the cat decided it was time to move elsewhere. Carefully edging his way up to the higher branches of the tree had the cat casually jumping to the next tree over. A softly called "Here, kitty-kitty" had gotten Kakashi the exact same flat, unimpressed look Pakkun would probably give him if he ever tried asking "Who's a good doggie?" Putting a little more effort into his attempts led him to discover the cat's ability to use something similar to a body flicker jutsu. 

Kakashi cursed under his breath. He'd had about enough of this. Maybe he should explain about D-rank missions after all. Looking back towards where the kid was waiting, Kakashi gave a start.

With a comforting arm wrapped around the kid's shoulders, Umino Iruka was crouched on the ground, watching Kakashi with sharp, bright eyes.

Kakashi froze.

How long had Iruka been there? He hoped not long. The last few minutes had been nothing but a string of foiled grabs at the cat. 

Iruka must have been drawn by the kid's wails. He seemed to have a radar for that sort of thing. He was wearing some bright orange monstrosity of a scarf. It was hideous. It set off his eyes nicely. But then again, _everything_ set off his eyes nicely. The obnoxious color also made him stand out that much more on the dull streets of Konoha. But even if he weren't wearing the thing, even if there were a hundred other people in the street, Kakashi still would have noticed him. His eyes seemed to find Iruka anytime they were near each other, no matter how often he had to quickly look away when he was caught staring.

Not even looking at the cat, Kakashi made another grab for it, and nearly fell out of the tree when his hand closed around nothing and he started to overbalance. 

Kakashi focused his attention back to the wayward cat. Or at least he tried to. A very good percentage of his cognitive functions now seemed dedicated to reminding him that Iruka was watching and also to magnifying the flustered feelings awareness of that fact caused.

He tried to channel Gai's perception of him. The ever cool, ultra suave master of a thousand jutsu. Just out here, helping kids, saving cats, being awesome. All in a day's work for the Copy-nin.

For the second time in two minutes, he nearly fell out of a tree as the cat sprung away from him right at the last moment. At this rate, even Gai wouldn't be able to proclaim him hip.

A few more minutes of increasingly unsuccessful attempts later, Kakashi decided it was time to call for reinforcements. 

His cool image was in no way enhanced by the barked laughter of his ninken after he'd briefed them on the situation. As he waited for them to pull themselves together enough to get into formation, Kakashi risked a glance back at Iruka. By some mercy of the First, he wasn't watching at the moment. Kakashi wasn't foolish enough to hope that meant he hadn't noticed eight ninken collapsing on the ground, incapacitated by laughter because Kakashi needed help catching a cat. 

Iruka was still crouched by the kid, clearly saying comforting things. The kid's wails and sobs had turned into sniffles and now were becoming nods of determination. Iruka made it look easy, like children weren't some particularly bizarre S-rank mission. They both turned to face Kakashi with eyes full of faith. They believed in Kakashi. He would get the cat back.

Kakashi froze under the weight of Iruka's gaze. Suddenly he realized everything was silent. The abrupt absence of ninken laughter rang in his ears.

He turned back towards his pack to find them staring too, all eight of them with highly amused looks in their eyes. Damn them. They _knew_. One moment of weakness when he'd sent Pakkun to scout a certain ramen stall, and now they all _knew_. 

"Form up," he growled and they jumped into action. Though not without a few knowing winks sent his way and a rumbled "Don't worry, Boss, we'll make you look cool for him," from Bull. Too late for that. At this point all he could really hope for was that Bull's failed attempt at a whisper hadn't just carried as far as he was afraid it had. 

The thing Kakashi hadn't factored into his plan was that when an irritated nin-cat was trapped in a tree with ninken on all sides and Kakashi ready to grab it from below, it became a nin-cat that attacked. Instead of dodging again, it came straight at him, claws out and ready to use them. Straight at his face, to be specific. 

The cat got in a good couple of swipes before he could get it fully under control. And this time, he _had_ fallen out of the damn tree. Not completely, just a few branches lower, but still.

Wind fluttered the torn remnants of his mask. It couldn't be covering more than a fraction of what it should. The cuts on his face burned in the way that only cat scratches and paper cuts could. This was why he was a dog person. Though, with his ninken literally howling with laughter, he was starting to rethink that part of his identity.

"Well then, Boss, we'll be seeing you," Pakkun said, not even trying to stifle his laughter, before the whole lot of them disappeared in puffs of smoke.

Kakashi stood frozen in the branches, back to Iruka and the kid, holding the cat out at arm's length as it spit and hissed at him, twisting in his grasp to try to free itself. It managed to get in a few more swipes at his forearms before he readjusted his hold.

He ran through options in his head, but there was no way to cover his face while still holding the cat, no way to get out of there without letting it go and not doing what he'd set out to do. 

With a sigh, he dropped to the ground, turning to face Iruka and the kid.

The kid ran up to him, arms outstretched. Kakashi was almost hesitant to hand over the demon creature, but it went limp, clearly resigned to its fate and it received a tight hug for its efforts. It glared at Kakashi with accusation in its eyes, and Kakashi almost felt sorry for it. Almost. After all, he was standing there, out in the open with basically no mask or dignity left because of the damn thing.

The kid beamed at Kakashi, said thank you while hugging one of his legs with the arm that was not currently holding the long-suffering nin-cat, then ran off.

Leaving Kakashi standing there. 

Alone with Iruka.

Iruka walked up to him at a more sedate pace. He was chuckling as he watched the kid run away. It was a low, warm sound that Kakashi had no defense against.

When he turned back towards Kakashi, he looked him square in the face, not seeming surprised or curious, like he'd seen him without his mask hundreds of times before. His smile was amused, but held no trace of mockery. His eyes were shining brightly with something it took Kakashi a moment to place. With a start, he realized what is was. _Interest_ , and not the casual, friendly sort. The type that wanted to curl Kakashi's toes in his sandals, tie his stomach in knots, and steal his breath permanently.

He didn't have time to process that before Iruka was stepping closer, still looking at his face, studying him. He reached up his hands and Kakashi did his best not to flinch away. 

"May I?" Iruka asked. Kakashi made a strangled noise that Iruka seemed to interpret as a yes.

The tingle of healing chakra made him shiver as Iruka's hands cupped his face, lingering for longer than necessary. A thumb brushing across his cheek over where one of the scratches had just been. Kakashi shivered again and couldn't blame it on the healing chakra this time. 

Still standing close, Iruka took his hands next, one after the other, and healed the scratches on his forearms too. It was unnecessary, really. The scratches weren't that deep even if they did sting. But it was nice of Iruka. He must heal little things all the time at the Academy. 

Kakashi thought he managed to mumble a quiet thank you, there was a chance their fingers had slid against each other as Iruka let his hands drop, and he might even have been staring hard enough he would have been able to count Iruka's dark eyelashes, but he couldn't be sure. His brain was nothing but white noise caused by the lack of space between them.

Iruka hesitated for a moment before stepping back, and Kakashi remembered to breathe again. A little. Iruka's eyes were still too _interested_ to allow for much more than the barest hint of breath. 

He had no idea what to do, what to say, but then Iruka was unwinding his scarf and handing it over. Kakashi wrapped it around his face as quickly as he could without looking panicked. It smelled like Iruka, like books and chalk and steel. Kakashi didn't breathe in deeply even though he wanted to. He didn't even mind that the scarf was obnoxiously orange. If it wasn't a present from Naruto, Kakashi would give up his Icha Icha collection for an entire year.

Iruka clasped his upper arm, still smiling with that new interest in his eyes. Kakashi swallowed hard. They'd never been on touching terms before today.

"Thank you for your hard work," Iruka said, like he did after all of Kakashi's missions. His voice was warm and caressing. 

Kakashi nodded a little numbly.

"Right," Iruka said, "I'll see you around." There was so much promise in the words, Kakashi could almost see them on a date together, going home together. He forced himself not to shiver again.

Iruka left, glancing back at Kakashi a few times, eyes still bright and inviting. Kakashi's feet refused to move as he watched him walk away. He was half torn between following after him like a lost puppy and running home to hide for roughly the rest of his life. He could still feel Iruka's hand on his arm, the tingle of his chakra against his skin. 

He swallowed again, shook his head, then sighed. He seemed to be doing a lot of that today.

He had seen that look before. The sudden _interest_ people had when they saw his face. Not interested in _him_ , just his face.

They'd been getting closer, Iruka and him. Kakashi had been dropping off his reports when he knew Iruka's shifts were just about to finish, so they might by chance end up walking out together. Meals had been eaten at the same place and same time, if not technically together. Iruka was friendly though, whenever he noticed Kakashi a few stools away at Ichiraku's, he always started a conversation. They would occasionally run into each other when they were both out shopping, hands full of bags, pausing just long enough to exchange pleasantries that got a little longer each time. The other day, they'd talked about the weather, about how the cherry blossoms would be blooming soon. It'd been nice. Kakashi thought they might even work up to being friends. Maybe they'd have lunch _together_ some day, not just at the same place and time. 

But for as friendly as he'd been, Iruka had never been _interested_. Kakashi had been certain. That had just changed. He'd seen Kakashi's face, and now he was.

Kakashi allowed himself one more sigh, then turned towards home.

He'd tried a few times, fumbling attempts at relationships with the people who'd seen his face and were suddenly interested. It never went well. Apparently his face didn't make up for all the baggage he brought with it.

Maybe if he avoided Iruka for a while he'd forget it. They could go back to what they'd had before. Iruka warm and friendly, not even close to interested, and Kakashi stealing glances, resisting urges to lean closer or try to steal touches as well. Just little ones, like Iruka's hand on his upper arm. He'd felt comfortable when it'd been like that. It'd been nice. Safe. Maybe someday a friendship from a respectable distance. Not a recipe for disappointment and disaster when Iruka realized Kakashi's life wasn't nearly as attractive as his face.

The scarf was soft and no matter how Kakashi breathed, he could still smell Iruka on it. When he got home he took it off firmly, folded it neatly, and put it in a bag. He'd bring it by Iruka's tomorrow. If Iruka's wasn't home, he'd just leave it on his door handle. Iruka would understand. He could say he tried at least. Not his fault if Iruka wasn't home in the middle of the afternoon on a school day.

~*~*~

It was harder to avoid Iruka than Kakashi had expected. He was just so used to picking up his missions and dropping off his reports to Iruka, it felt wrong going to the mission room when he wasn't on shift. Besides, missions always went better when Iruka was the one who told him to do his best and come home safely. They didn't feel complete when someone other than Iruka took his report and thanked him for his hard work. He didn't feel quite like he'd come home that way.

Iruka still said those things to Kakashi, all those standard mission room phrases that he'd heard hundreds of time before, but now there was a little extra _something_ in his voice and eyes that was warm and inviting and Kakashi didn't know what to do with it. 

When they ran into each other at Ichiraku's, Iruka didn't just make small talk from two stools over, he slid his bowl down the counter and sat right next to Kakashi, legs so close under the counter, it would only take a shift of his weight to bring them together. 

Kakashi didn't even really like ramen all that much, but he found himself craving it at regular intervals now.

If their paths crossed while they were out running errands, it wasn't always a quick exchange of pleasantries anymore. There were hints that were tempting to take, but he knew he shouldn't, not if he wanted to avoid the inevitable way it would all end. 

It was hard to remember that when Iruka was grinning up at him though, asking which store he was going to next. Kakashi mumbled something about needing to go to a weapons shop and Iruka grinned wider, saying he'd been meaning to go to one too. 

It was oddly nice, wandering around the cramped shop together, edging around displays of every weapon imaginable, stopping here and there to test the balance of a kunai or the weight of a shuriken. Iruka's eyes had other things to look at. He couldn't focus that gaze on Kakashi in a place like this, not even when the cramped aisles forced them to stand closer together than normally considered polite.

Which is how he found himself staring at a display of swords and having a good-natured debate about whether tachi, katana, or nagamaki were better. Iruka liked the extra curve on the tachi's blade, though he admitted the nagamaki's long hilt allowed for interesting usage. Kakashi preferred a katana whenever he did use a sword, but he would use whatever Iruka wanted him to, if it meant he got to see Iruka use one in return. 

He was less willing to compromise when they moved on to the shorter blades. Iruka had to be crazy if he thought kodachi were better than tanto. When he told him as much, Iruka just laughed, the low warmth of it cutting through Kakashi far quicker than any blade could. 

Iruka leaned closer to the display, examining the blades.

"What's your preference? You seem like the straight type," he said, and Kakashi blinked, suddenly aware of the fact that he'd been staring at Iruka far more than he'd been looking at the weapons.

"What?" Kakashi asked, sounding more strangled than he'd like to admit. There was nothing straight about him. Iruka looked back at him, grinning.

"Hamon blade patterns," Iruka clarified. "I'll take dictation of all your reports for a month if you prefer anything other than suguha."

Okay, so maybe one thing about him did tend to be straight. He couldn't refute that. "And you?" he asked instead.

"Notare," Iruka replied, turning away from Kakashi, eyes tracing along the flowing line on one of the blade's edges. The billowing wave pattern did seem fitting, and as long as it kept Iruka's attention, Kakashi's heart remembered there was no reason for it to try to double its usual rate.

Kakashi didn't buy anything, even if they had spent the better part of an hour exploring the shop. He wasn't used to leaving a weapons shop empty handed.

"We'll have to do this again sometime," Iruka said, still standing close even though they were back outside with plenty of room around them. "Maybe you'll even manage to convince me tanto are better than kodachi."

Kakashi was more than sure he could, given enough time, but now that there was nothing to distract him, Iruka had that blatant _interest_ in his eyes again. Kakashi shifted, unnerved at being the focus of his attention.

"Yeah, sometime," Kakashi agreed, then made a hurried excuse before leaving. His heart didn't settle down until well after he was home.

~*~*~

Iruka was on shift now, he had to be. Maybe for another two hours. Kakashi had promised himself he would wait until after that to turn in his latest report. With that goal in mind, he'd been wandering around for a good hour, trying very hard to get lost on the road of life. It was more difficult than it should have been. Apparently all the streets in Konoha led straight to the Tower. Still, he'd been trying. But then he'd run into Kurenai, who had a report of her own to turn in, and somehow he found himself being hauled into the mission room with little to no ceremony.

She was a step ahead of Kakashi, and Iruka was the nearest desk worker to her, but she sidestepped him neatly, handing her report to the next chuunin over, leaving Iruka open to take Kakashi's. 

Kakashi could feel her watching as Iruka's fingers brushed against his own when he handed over the report. 

"Thank you for your hard work, Kakashi-san," Iruka said in that warm, inviting voice. It was expectant, waiting for a question that Kakashi didn't think he'd ever be able to ask. 

Kakashi's heart felt like it was going to beat itself out of his chest, his mind flashed bright, neon signs pointing to all the viable routes of escape. But Iruka was smiling at him, looking up at him, and Kakashi wasn't sure he'd manage to make it to any of them without tripping over his own feet. 

He told himself he'd avoid Iruka from that evening. Eventually things would go back to normal. It was better that way, even if he would miss the brush of Iruka's fingers when he turned in his reports.

But he'd need to pick up another mission tomorrow. It wasn't a school day, so Iruka would likely be there most of the day.

And then he'd need to turn in the report the following day. He'd probably get back in the evening, and Iruka did seem to work most evenings.

Maybe from the day after that. One more mission, one more brush of Iruka's fingers to welcome him home, and then he'd do what he should have been doing all this time.

They were barely out of the room before Kurenai was gripping his arm. He didn't even need to look at her to know she was grinning manically.

"How long has _that_ been going on?" she asked once they were out of earshot of the desk workers. 

"Three weeks," Kakashi said, keeping his voice neutral.

" _Three weeks_? And you haven't asked him out yet?"

"No," he said, not quite holding back the sigh that seemed to come up every time he thought about it.

" _Kakashi_ ," she said, reproving. "You've been mooning over him for what? Six months now?"

It was closer to a year. He didn't say that. She didn't understand and he didn't want to explain his sudden aversion to the idea.

"Iruka-sensei is nice," she said. "He'll do you good." 

Kakashi just shook his head. Not if Iruka only liked his face, he wouldn't.

~*~*~

Four weeks was apparently the limit of Iruka's patience, the point when he'd had enough of giving not-at-all-subtle hints.

Kakashi dropped off another report to him, got welcomed home with an inviting smile and another brush of Iruka's fingers, and promised himself yet again he'd avoid Iruka from tomorrow. For sure this time. It wasn't his fault that Iruka just happened to always work the hours that fit into his schedule most conveniently.

He was out of the mission room, remembering how to breathe again, when suddenly there was a familiar presence behind him, walking quickly to catch up.

Iruka fell into step with him like it was the most natural thing in the world, a warm, tempting presence by his side as they made their way out of the building. The silence between them would have been comfortable if Kakashi didn't feel so on edge. This wasn't how things normally worked. Iruka should have at least another hour left in his shift.

"Your shift is over?" Kakashi asked after a moment, trying to stop the way his mind was spinning faster and faster as it tried to figure out why Iruka was walking out with him.

"Just a quick break," Iruka said, winking at him. "I have something I want to ask you." 

That did nothing at all to settle Kakashi's nerves.

"Are you free for dinner tomorrow night?" Iruka asked, getting straight to the point once they were alone outside. His eyes were all kinds of _interested_ again. He was blushing slightly, but that didn't stop him from making it seem easy. 

_Dinner_ , Kakashi thought. Not lunch, not hanging out. _Dinner_. It'd be hard to think of it as anything other than a date.

"I," Kakashi started, looking around desperately for an excuse. There was only Iruka. "... have a mission?" He bit back a curse at how that sounded more like a question than a polite, sensible reason why they shouldn't date.

Iruka stared at him, though it was with something close to incredulity, not interest. 

Belatedly, it hit Kakashi. He'd just dropped off a report and hadn't picked up another mission yet. 

Iruka's brows furrowed slightly, but then he shrugged, expression clearing. "Maybe some other time. Come home safely," he said with a smile, though his eyes seemed a little more guarded than inviting as he turned away.

Kakashi kicked himself while he watched Iruka walk back into the building, but he didn't do anything to stop him. 

All he could do was shuffle his way to Kurenai's place. She always had the best tea. Or alcohol. Whichever the situation required. 

One look at his face had her bustling him inside.

"What happened?" she asked, already grabbing a mug from one of her cabinets.

"Iruka asked me out." 

"That's great!" she said, turning towards him and beaming, mug forgotten in her hand.

"I said no."

" _KAKASHI_! What genjutsu-induced insanity caused you to do that?" She looked scandalized and more than a little disappointed in him.

Kakashi just shook his head. He knew he should have handled it better, but it was the right thing to do. For both of them.

"He saw my face," Kakashi said. "He's only asking me out because of that."

Kurenai made an exasperated sound. "Kakashi, you're not _that_ good-looking."

"He was never interested before," Kakashi insisted.

Kurenai tsked. "Stop selling Iruka-sensei short," she said. "And stop selling yourself short too."

Kakashi just stared at her. She really didn't understand.

Shaking her head, she put back the mug and grabbed a bottle of sake instead, apparently deciding tea wasn't strong enough for the current situation. At least they could agree on that.

~*~*~

"How was your mission?" Iruka asked a few days later when they ran into each other on the street.

"Fine," Kakashi said, trying to sound cheerful. He just ended up sounding sarcastic. " _Great_." 

First thing in the morning, he'd run to the mission room, head still full of cotton from all the sake the night before. The only thing available had been an escort mission. It'd been pretty obvious why no one else had taken it. There had been children. A lot of them. How one single couple could have that many children, Kakashi didn't even want to know, but he'd dutifully seen them back to their own village. With help from his ninken. There had been no other nin-animals this time, so at least there was that. He might have taken some pleasure in watching the horde of children terrorize his dogs. Just a little. A payback of sorts for all the laughter.

To top it all off, Kakashi had forced himself to turn in his report when he knew without a doubt that Iruka wouldn't be there. Hearing another chuunin thank him for his work just hadn't been the same.

"Thank you for your hard work," Iruka said, and Kakashi blinked. Six words from Iruka and finally it felt like his mission was over, like he really had come home.

There was a hint of amusement in Iruka's voice, enough to make Kakashi wonder if he knew exactly which mission it'd been. But he didn't give Kakashi time to dwell on it before he was speaking again. "So does that mean you're free for dinner tonight?"

Kakashi nearly choked. He hadn't seen this coming. "I..." Kakashi couldn't think of anything to say.

"Have a mission?" Iruka finished for him. He was frowning now, the sharp interest in his eyes becoming duller, disappointed.

They stared at each other for a moment, then Iruka gave him a smile, brilliant and fake.

"Maybe some other-," he started to say, then stopped himself. He studied Kakashi for another moment, then spoke again. "Sorry, I thought you were, you know, _interested_. In me. For quite a while now."

Kakashi wanted to say that he had been interested for quite a while, he still was, but not when Iruka just liked his face. "It's because of the other day. Why you're asking me out," Kakashi said instead.

Iruka didn't need to be told which day. "Honestly, yes."

That hit Kakashi hard. He hadn't realized he'd been holding out a small measure of hope for something else until Iruka had confirmed it for him. There was no point in starting something, not like this. Best to just get it over with.

"You're only asking me out because you saw my face." 

"I'm only asking you out because I saw your face?" Iruka's expression was unreadable, his tone flat.

Kakashi nodded.

Iruka continued to stare at him, for long enough it had Kakashi shifting on his feet. 

"It's not because of that?" Kakashi asked finally, needing to break the silence.

Iruka shook his head, the hint of a wry smile on his lips. "Kakashi, I've filed mission reports for the better part of a decade now."

Kakashi didn't understand what that had to do with anything.

"I have clearance for handling S-rank mission reports. Which means I also update related personnel files when needed."

Kakashi blinked. Did that mean...

"Protocol requires we confirm we have the correct file before updating it. By looking at the name on the file and forms. And by looking at the picture in the front. The one you can't hide your face while taking."

" _Oh_ ," was all Kakashi said, eyes widening. How many desk workers knew his face?

"I'm the only one that handles your file. And there were only two people before me," Iruka said, making Kakashi wonder if he secretly knew Yamanaka mind-reading jutsu.

"So, you see, if it were just about your face, I would have asked you out years ago."

"Oh," Kakashi said again. He realized he needed to contribute more to the conversation than just _oh_. "Then why?"

Iruka huffed, like it should be obvious, but he explained. "Kakashi, you spent 15 minutes trying to _rescue_ a _nin-cat_ from a tree. Not because you had to, not because it was a mission. but because a little kid was upset. I don't know many people who would have done that."

"But I was only-" Kakashi started to protest.

"I know," Iruka said, cutting him off, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards.

"It was just-"

"I know," Iruka repeated, cutting him off again. "That's why. Also, Naruto likes and respects you, though he might never admit it. Don't tell him I told you."

"So you're not asking out just my face?"

"No, I'm not asking out just your face. Though, it'd be a nice bonus if it came too." Iruka was grinning at him now, in a way that Kakashi liked far too much.

"Oh," Kakashi said again.

"Oh?" Iruka asked.

"Oh, okay," Kakashi said. 

Iruka's grin grew wider. The _interest_ in his eyes was back in full force, and for the first time Kakashi found that he didn't mind the way that gaze made his heart race and his insides feel like they were trying to rearrange themselves. 

Maybe _interested_ wasn't so bad after all.

~*~*~

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it. ♥


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